On Wednesday, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined a bipartisan group of more than 100 colleagues to criticize the group’s efforts to finance attacks on Israel. He questioned reports that he used virtual currency.
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In a letter to Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the President, and Brian Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, the lawmakers wrote that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) He expressed concern over reports that he had raised millions of dollars through virtual currency to finance his autonomous government. .7 Attacks Israel, evading US sanctions. The group is asking the Biden administration how it intends to prevent further crypto-funded terrorism.
“Between August 2021 and June this year, [Hamas and PIJ] Raising more than $130 million in cryptocurrencies and moving millions of dollars to each other, “PIJ has transferred more than $12 million in cryptocurrencies to Hezbollah since 2023.” Wall Street Journal As the paper reports.”[r]Researchers who study Hamas’ financing said that cryptocurrencies remain one of the many tools the group uses to raise funds. Given the clear and present dangers posed by the financing of these and other extremist organizations, we urge governments to provide additional details about their plans to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies for the financing of terrorism. ,” the lawmakers wrote.
Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, has said in previous hearings that cryptocurrencies are used by gun traffickers, money launderers, human traffickers and other bad actors.
The letter asks governments what steps they are taking to combat the use of cryptocurrencies by terrorist organizations, an estimate of the value of crypto assets held by Hamas and PIJ, and what percentage of their funds are transferred. We asked them to respond by October 31st as to whether they Describes cryptocurrency channels and the challenges the administration faces in preventing terrorist groups from raising funds through cryptocurrencies.
